Alpha-aminonitriles are important intermediates in the preparation of aminoacids, thiadiazoles and imidazole derivatives. A number of methods describing the preparation of alpha-aminonitriles are reported in the literature; but as yet, none provide a completely satisfactory procedure. See for example, W. L. Matier et al., J. Med. Chem. 16, 90 (1973); A. Strecker, Ann. 493, 20 (1932) and Y. Hamada et al., Tet. Lett., 4663 (1979). Most of the reported reactions involve lengthy reaction conditions and tedious work-ups. More recently, Ojima et al., Chem. Lett., 331 and 737 (1975), have shown that trimethylsilyl cyanide (TMSCN) reacts with ketimines to give the corresponding alpha-aminonitriles in excellent yield.